Seeing Is Believing
by Calico
Summary: Fawkes and Hobbes take an assignment in Sunnydale and meet some of the local color.
1. 1

Title: "Seeing Is Believing"  
  
Author: Calico calico321@yahoo.com  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Summary: BtVS/Invisible Man X-over: Fawkes and Hobbes take an assignment in Sunnydale and meet some of the local color.  
  
  
  
"Fawkes, Hobbes, sit down," the Official said to the duo as they entered his office.  
  
"What's up Chief," Hobbes asked.  
  
"You two are going on a little day trip."  
  
"Where to?" Darien Fawkes asked as he lounged in the chair.  
  
"Sunnydale. Ebberts, get them the map."  
  
"Yes sir," replied Ebberts who stood behind the large man.  
  
"Sunnydale? Sounds like a retirement community," observed Fawkes. "Hey Hobbes, maybe we're investigating some Grand Theft Dentures." The two men slapped hands.  
  
"Gentlemen!" the Official bellowed. "Sunnydale is a town about 50 miles south of here. It has the dubious distinction of having the highest mortality rate in the country. We're helping out the FBI; they lost an agent down there."  
  
"Lost? You mean like losing your car keys?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"No, Bobby, like they sent the agent down to investigate and haven't heard from him in three days," the Official sneered. Ebberts tried to hand the Official the map but he waved him towards his agents. "Go on down there and take a look, see if you can pick up a lead on the agent. His name's Fox Mulder, here's a picture," he said handing Fawkes an 8 ½ X 11 glossy photo. "No fancy stuff gentleman, just a little recon."  
  
"So Chief, why're we helping out the Feebs?" Hobbes asked. "Don't they have enough manpower? I mean we're DIA now right?"  
  
"Yes, Bobby we work for the Department of Indian Affairs now, but we still help out our sister agencies from time to time. They need a low-key approach, and I owe them a favor. No more questions!" he said when Fawkes opened his mouth. "Get out of here."  
  
  
  
"If this town got any sleepier it'd be considered dead," Hobbes quipped walking down the street. "People're probable dying of extreme boredom."  
  
"Amen brother," Darien sighed walking beside his friend. "We've been here all day and nothing. Look sun's going down, Hobbes. Do we have clearance to get a hotel?"  
  
"You think the Official'd give us expense for a hotel when we've got a perfectly good van to sleep in? C'mon." The two agents were walking back towards their vehicle in the darkness when they came up on a group of five young men.  
  
"You guys aren't from around here are you?" the one in front asked casually, as the others blocked the sidewalk.  
  
"Actually we're not. What's it to ya?" Hobbes said, getting ready for confrontation.  
  
"Locals know better than to walk around after dark. We're looking for a bite to eat. You guys want to help us out with that?"  
  
"No handouts boys. Why don't you get a job," Hobbes sneered trying to walk past the group.  
  
"Ain't money we're looking for pops," the leader said as one of the other grabbed his arm.  
  
"Whoa! Hands off boys!" Hobbes tried to go for his gun when Darien cut in.  
  
"I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot here. Listen what do you guys want anyway?"  
  
"Your blood," the leader said as his face transformed into a hideous caricature of a human face with fangs, yellow eyes, and a ridged forehead. Darien stepped back, noticing all the boys' faces were now changed.  
  
"What the hell is this, Halloween?"  
  
"Trick or treat," the leader sneered as he lunged for Darien.  
  
"Sorry boys, Halloween's not for four months," a girl's voice shouted from behind them. At the distraction Hobbes and Darien managed to pull loose from their respective captors. Bobby pulled out his gun and started firing, but the things that had looked like humans merely shook of the bullets as mere annoyances. They were much more interested and concerned with the new group of people, lead by a young blond girl waving a wooden stick. Upon further inspection, the entire group seemed armed only with these sticks.  
  
"Fawkes, what the hell is happening here?" Hobbes questioned his friend as the young girl viciously stabbed one of the creatures in the chest with her stick and it immediately exploded in a shower of dust.  
  
With a shrug Darien answered, "I think they're vampires."  
  
"Are you crazy! There's no such things as vampires!"  
  
"Hobbes have you had your annual eye exam? Did you see those faces? And that guy said he wanted our *blood*. Add 'em up partner." Hobbes merely glared at him then turned back to see that all but one of the original gang were dusted. This one feinted right then leaped left making a hasty retreat.  
  
"Let him go," the blond girl called to her comrades. "We'll catch up to him later." She walked towards the two men. "Are you guys ok?" she asked gently. Behind her another girl, this one with auburn hair, and a dark- haired boy followed.  
  
The boy said, "Yeah, you guys were almost the catch of the day."  
  
"Xander," the redhead warned softly.  
  
"We're fine, I guess," Darien said. "I don't suppose you could tell us what happed here?"  
  
"Well you were attached by a gang of vamps. Vampires," she said almost apologetically. "You must not be from around here."  
  
"What do we have 'Hi we're tourists' stamped on our foreheads?" Hobbes muttered.  
  
"No, it's just that locals know to stay in a night, usually," the redhead said. Then she smiled and stuck her hand out. "You can consider us the Welcome Wagon. Although we don't have any fruit or muffins. I'm Willow. This is Xander and that's Buffy," she said pointing to her friends.  
  
"Bobby Hobbes and this is my partner Darien Fawkes. We're government agents." They shook hands all around. Hobbes noticed that Buffy and Darien's hands held for a fraction of a moment longer than the rest.  
  
"Government agent, huh. You with the Initiative?" Buffy questioned suspiciously.  
  
"What's that?" Darien asked in return. "No, we're with the Department of Indian Affairs. We're just doing a little favor for the FBI right now."  
  
"Ixnay on the issionmay," Hobbes hissed out of the corner of his mouth.  
  
"Can it Hobbes. I think the mission's a bust anyway." To Buffy he said, "So what's a girl like you doing wandering around at night if it's so dangerous? And what's with the sticks?"  
  
"Well," she said with a laugh, "I'm kind of the Slayer so it's my job to go around and kick vamp butt."  
  
"Huh?" Darien and Bobby said at the same time.  
  
"It's a long story, but boiled down to its finest point, I'm the Vampire Policeman. It's my destiny," she whispered conspiratorially to them with a grin. "We'll walk you to wherever you're heading, c'mon."  
  
"Yeah and you guys can tell me all about working for the government, like is it all James Bond 'license to kill' or more like 'Get Smart'?" Xander said as he gravitated towards Hobbes and the group started walking down the street.  
  
They were rounding a corner when there was a horrible screech from above. The vampire that had managed to flee was leaping towards them from the building's roof. Everyone started away, but the thing landed behind Darien, catching him around the throat with his arm. "Ah crap!" Darien said, trying to break free of the thing's grasp.  
  
"Fawkes!" Hobbes called out reaching for his gun. Buffy put her hand on his arm.  
  
"That won't help, and you might end up shooting him instead. Let me do my job." Pulling a stake from her coat she approached the vampire. "Now be a good vamp and let my friend go."  
  
"Back off Slayer! He's mine!" the thing hissed, spitting in Darien's ear.  
  
"Yo, dude, have you ever heard of Scope in the morning?" he said waving his hand in front of his face. "'Cause you got a bad case of halitosis." Aside from his quip, Darien was feeling a very real sense of fear at having his neck exposed to the thing's very long and sharp fangs. He saw Buffy approaching but didn't feel overly confident in the blonde's ability to pull his fat out of the fire. So he did what comes naturally in life threatening situations. He quicksilvered. The vamp was thrown off center after seeing his prey suddenly vanish, and his hold was released. Darien didn't need an engraved invitation and used the element of surprise to his advantage, throwing his weight forward and heaving the thing over his shoulder and onto its back. Buffy, also momentarily stunned at the sight, or lack there of, of Darien's disappearance, was even more bewildered when the stake seemed to take a mind of its own and fly out of her hand, landing in the thing's chest. As the dust was settling on the sidewalk Darien suddenly reappeared next to where the body had been, brushing off flakes of quicksilver that mingled with the vamp's dust before flashing out of sight.  
  
"Can I be the first to say Wow!" Xander exclaimed as they walked up to Darien.  
  
"Cool trick," Willow agreed.  
  
"Yeah, cool trick," Buffy echoed quietly looking at Darien with a mixture of awe and trepidation. "I guess I'm not the only one around here with a secret. Want to let us in on the 411?"  
  
"Well that's classified information," Hobbes said in his best imitation of a government employee.  
  
"Yeah," Darien said with a grin, "we could tell you, but we'd have to kill you."  
  
  
  
Continued.? 


	2. 2

A/n: I'd like to thank everybody for all the kind words! If I'd known it was going to be this popular, I wouldn't have posted the first part without some idea of where I was going with it. But I am thinking about it and writing when I can. Here's a short part to whet your appetites, and you have my word I'll be much more diligent in the future!  
  
  
  
"I'd like to see you try," Buffy smirked at him and then said, "C'mon, we were walking you to your van."  
  
Half a block away inspiration struck Fawkes and he grabbed his friend's arm. "Hold up a sec, Hobbes." They dropped back a few steps and Darien continued in a low voice. "Maybe the mission's not a total bust after all. What if that agent was down here investigating vampires?"  
  
"Don't be ridiculous Fawkes, the FBI has no interest in va...va..."  
  
"Vampires," Darien offered.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because they're not real." Darien raised an eyebrow. "Well up to fifteen minutes ago they weren't real," Hobbes grumbled. "Besides what would the Bureau care about...about...you know what?"  
  
"I've heard rumors about a super-secret department in the FBI that investigates the unexplainable. This would be right up their alley."  
  
"Urban myth my friend. Doesn't exist. Don't believe the ramblings of Internet conspiracy junkies, still living in their mothers' basements, who insist on the existence of alien life just to make theirs less pathetic."  
  
"How can you be sure?"  
  
"I am. Trust me."  
  
"Well fine, but why don't you just ask them?"  
  
"Ask them what?"  
  
"If they've seen Mulder. What would it hurt?"  
  
"What would it hurt?" Hobbes echoed.  
  
"What would it hurt?" Darien pressed the point.  
  
Hobbes shook his head in disgust as he reached into his jacket for the missing agent's photo. "You know my friend half an hour ago you couldn't wait to get out of this burg. The only reason you're so gung-ho to pursue the case now is because you think the blonde's hot."  
  
"Who, Buffy?"  
  
"Yes, *Buffy*," Hobbes sneered.  
  
Darien smiled. "She is kind of cute isn't she?"  
  
"Way out of your league partner. She's practically still in diapers."  
  
"Nah, she's in college. Gotta be at least 19 or 20."  
  
"Well I've got two words for you: 'Death Wish'."  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?"  
  
"That means you put the wrong moves on her and you're likely to end up with a wooden stick growing out of your chest."  
  
"She's not like that."  
  
"How can you be so sure? Didn't you see what she did to those...those..."  
  
"Vampires, and that was different. Now come on they're waiting for us."  
  
Buffy, Willow, and Xander were standing at the end of the block as they jogged up to them. "I thought you were in a hurry to get home?" Buffy asked.  
  
"Ah we were, but we were just wondering if you'd ever seen this man?" Fawkes asked her as Hobbes held out the photo to each one, letting them get a good look.  
  
After a few seconds of contemplation, Willow exclaimed, "Ooh yeah! I saw him just the other day."  
  
"Where?" Hobbes asked.  
  
"At the University library."  
  
"Do you know what he was looking at?"  
  
"Um, old city plans I think. There's a whole section dedicated to Sunnydale's diverse history. There's actually a pretty good biography of the founder and..."  
  
"Will, let's save that for another day, 'kay?" Xander said softly, with a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Oh yeah, sorry about that."  
  
"That's okay," Fawkes said, smiling at her. "Do you have any idea where he may have gone afterwards?"  
  
"Uh, no. Sorry." She shrugged.  
  
"I'm calling the Official," Hobbes announced, pulling out his cell phone.  
  
"Looks like we're going to be around for a little longer," Darien said to Buffy. "Know any good places to stay that won't be crawling with creatures of the night out to suck our blood?"  
  
"You should be pretty safe indoors..." she started to say, when Hobbes gave a yell of frustration.  
  
"Damn thing won't work at all. Battery's fully charged and," he raised his head to look heavenward, "nothing around to block the signal, but it's completely dead."  
  
"That's just the Hellmouth. Cell phones never work around here," Buffy explained.  
  
"Hellmouth?" Darien and Hobbes said in unison.  
  
"Center of great mystical energy, portal to another dimension - you know the same old stuff."  
  
"Where would this thing be by chance?" Hobbes ventured to ask.  
  
"You're standing over it," Xander supplied with a smile.  
  
As one, they both took a step backwards, wearing twin expressions of horror.  
  
"Actually," Buffy corrected, giving her friend a look, "it's centered under the high school, just over there," she pointed towards the west. "But it's been sealed off, not that it doesn't still give off an aura of evil that attracts the baddies from all over."  
  
"Yeah," Xander grinned. "Welcome to Sunnydale, Club Med for Demons."  
  
"De...De...Demons?" Hobbes sputtered. "You're telling me that in addition to va...va..."  
  
"Vampires," Fawkes sighed.  
  
"Right. And you got demons as well? Anything else we should know about?"  
  
"Well my friend," Xander replied, patting the older man on the back, "We got bug ladies, lizard boys, and the occasional walking dead."  
  
"This being different from the vampires?" Fawkes inquired.  
  
"Sure, vampires suck the blood, zombies eat the flesh."  
  
"Ah, zombies. How silly of me." He turned to Buffy. "Speaking of eating, I'm starving. Any good places to catch a bite around here?"  
  
"Look why don't you just come back to my place? We've got a phone you can use, food, and you can crash on the living room floor."  
  
Darien smiled wolfishly. "Sounds like heaven."  
  
"Down boy," she said firmly. "My mom's home."  
  
  
  
"Mom!" Buffy called out as she and the agents entered the residence. Xander and Willow had already gone home for the evening, with promises of meeting up the following day.  
  
"Oh hello Buffy," Joyce Summers said cheerily as she came out of the kitchen wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "You're home early." She stopped as she saw the two men. "What do you have here?" she inquired with a small smile.  
  
"Mom, I'd like to introduce Darien Fawkes and..." Buffy started, but Hobbes stepped in front of her with hand outstretched.  
  
"Bobby Hobbes, ma'am," he said with a slick expression and shook her hand eagerly. "And can I just say what a pleasure it is to meet you. The loveliness of your daughter didn't prepare me for just how delectable you are." He placed the other hand on her shoulder.  
  
Buffy's expression of horror was matched only by Fawkes' look of glee. "Ahem," she said loudly. "The fondling of my mother can cease and desist now."  
  
The two adults separated with red-faced looks. "So what do you gentlemen do?" Joyce asked as she self-consciously pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.  
  
"We're with the government," Hobbes replied grandly.  
  
"The government," Joyce repeated in awe. "That must be dangerous work."  
  
"Oh it is. Our lives are on the line everyday."  
  
"Like how I'm going to end it in about two seconds if you don't stop hitting on my mother," Buffy said through gritted teeth as she pulled Hobbes into the living room.  
  
"Oh Buffy, he didn't mean anything by it. Are you staying for dinner, Mr..Fawkes, is it?"  
  
"Sure, yeah, and it's just Darien. Thanks a lot, Mrs. Summers."  
  
"You can just call me Joyce," she replied with a smile.  
  
A small cry of pain was heard in the other room, and then Buffy reappeared, pretending to brush dirt from her palms. "Hey Mom, these guys are spending the night, okay?"  
  
"Really? Is there a run on hotels?"  
  
"I'm helping them with something," Buffy said, lowering her voice and arching an eyebrow to get her point across.  
  
"We won't be any trouble, I promise," Darien said politely. "And we'd really appreciate it."  
  
"Yeah," Hobbes said as he emerged from the living room, rubbing his upper arm. "Cause, it's either here or we sleep in the van."  
  
"Well, I can't have that. Make yourselves comfortable. I've got homemade chili on the stove. We'll be eating in about fifteen minutes, all right?"  
  
"Sounds perfect. Thanks Mom," Buffy said with a smile and Joyce went back to the kitchen. "C'mon you two. I'll grab some blankets and pillows. You can crash in here," she indicated the living room and then disappeared to the linen closet.  
  
Hobbes and Fawkes wandered into the living room and looked around until she returned, arms full. She set the bedding down on the end of the couch. "So, uh, about that phone?" Hobbes asked hesitantly.  
  
"Right in there," she pointed to an alcove around the corner. When he was gone she faced Darien. "So spill."  
  
"Excuse me?" he asked with a shocked expression.  
  
"The thing you did," she wiggled her fingers up and down her body, "you know with disappearing and all."  
  
"Ooooh, that," he replied, and dropped down into a comfy chair. She perched on the edge of the couch. "It's a gland."  
  
"A gland?" she echoed skeptically.  
  
"Yep." He tapped himself on the head, at the base of the skull. "A scientifically engineered gland that secretes a compound called Quicksilver. It bends light and makes me appear invisible."  
  
"That's all?" She wrinkled her nose.  
  
"All? What were you expecting?"  
  
"I dunno. Something magick or even demony. Science is just so...blah." She shrugged. "So you can do it at will?"  
  
"Pretty much. It also works as a fear response involuntarily."  
  
"How does one go about getting this special gland installed?"  
  
"Well, you see, I was in jail," he began and told her the story of how the team of government-funded scientists headed up by his brother, Kevin, needed a human experiment and he was between a rock and a hard place. Then he told her how his brother's colleague betrayed them, resulting in the death of the entire team, including Kevin.  
  
"Wow," she said and sat back to process the information.  
  
"That isn't even the worst part," he continued. "That SOB, Renaud, altered the gland without Kevin's knowledge, so now the Quicksilver builds up in my system until I turn psychotic if I don't receive a shot of Counteragent, and the only people who have the formula are the government, so basically I've become their pet agent for as long as I've got this thing in my head."  
  
"Telling tales out of school, my friend," Bobby Hobbes quipped as he came back into the room.  
  
"She's the Slayer, Hobbes, I don't think she's going to run to the tabloids."  
  
"Whatever," he returned as he took another chair. "Spoke with the Official and gave him the story."  
  
"And?"  
  
"And we're out of here tomorrow. The Feebs are sending another agent in; she should be flying in in the morning. We're supposed to meet her at the airport and fill her in on all the pertinent data before hustling back home."  
  
"You're kidding."  
  
"Nope."  
  
Fawkes looked at Buffy and then at Hobbes. "You know that old van didn't sound so good on the way down," he said nonchalantly.  
  
Hobbes nodded sagely. "Carburetor I'd say. Or maybe the fan belt."  
  
"So if we couldn't meet the FBI lady..."  
  
"And we were stuck around here with nothing to do, except maybe doing some snooping of our own..."  
  
"We couldn't really be held responsible," Fawkes finished and both men smiled, then turned to Buffy.  
  
"Hey, I'm always up to bucking authority," she said with a shrug.  
  



End file.
